RC4WD Dozer, modifications, upgrades, settings.

[Yard Toad]

Just wondering what others have done to their dozers to modify, upgrade, or setup of radio settings.

Here are some things I have done to my dozer so far. I have added decals, nonskid tape on the steps, oil drain on bottom of hydro tank, Loctite the track pins, replaced all Servos (Hitec), added servonaut MM4 switch. Currently waiting on telemetry battery voltage sensor for the Flysky Rx. Thanks for your replies in advance.

[Yard Toad]

Hmmm... I guess people here aren’t open to sharing knowledge or having good discussion about our hobby. Seems to me the only time people post is when they have problems. Sad but it seems this is the only way people are going to reply with information that won’t be pertinent to the post... or wait, maybe I am the only one that owns a dozer.
Thanks for the replies....

[skeeter]

Patience is a virtue, grasshopper! You posted this about 24 hours ago. Give peeps a chance to read, & reply to it!

[Mavv]

I just got my dozer a few weeks ago. First thing I did was swap out the two speed controllers for a Sabertooth one so I could control it with one control.

I now have the movement to my left sticks, and my right sticks control the blade which makes it much better to control.

Decals are ordered and lighting, but other than that I haven't done anything else with it. Do those tracks really need to be lock tighted?

[TheBennyB]

Easy Yard, that was a crap aggressive/passive post you had, but fine. (see what I did there?) Number one is to remove the the "overfill" tube off the fluid tank and plug or replace with a one way needle valve, or anytime you operate on an angle or tip the sucker you'll have fluid everywhere. Next would be mixing on your TX to get dozer and blade functions on the sticks and ripper on the toggles. Of course this is just personal preference. If your interested I can send pics of my stock TX mixing screens, this is using the stock ESC's though.

[Yard Toad]

Mavv, this maybe the way I go if I don’t decide to upgrade the stock radio. My stock radio only has one mix available (Flysky i6s). What Sabertooth did you use? 2x60?

As far as the track pins are concerned, they will begin to back themselves out and start to catch and drag on the lower track guides. The blue Loctite will take care of that, haven’t had a problem since.

[Yard Toad]

Benny, thanks for the tip on the overfill tube. I have not had issues with this yet but still good information on the fix.

I would be interested in the TX mixing, but currently the stock Flysky TX will only support one mix. Thinking about upgrading radio to support more mixes or running a Sabertooth once I burn up the ESC’s. Still not sure the way I will go with this yet. Would you mind posting the Tx mix screen shots? Would be helpful info for those of us that may upgrade to new Tx’s.

Are you running the Radiolink at9? If so how many mixes will it support?

[Mavv]

Don't need to do any fancy mixing with your radio with the sabertooth. I'm using the 2x60 one.

Basically one lead goes to throttle, and one lead goes to the stick you want to turn, which for me is rudder. I use one of these controllers on my snowcat and it just makes it so much easier to control. The ripper is now on two toggle switches.

I did ditch the stock radio and use my Futuba T10. One thing I would like to do is figure out how to mix the pump to turn on when I want to use the plow but I don't quite have it figured out yet.

[Northern Farmer]

Don't need to do any fancy mixing with your radio with the sabertooth. I'm using the 2x60 one.

Basically one lead goes to throttle, and one lead goes to the stick you want to turn, which for me is rudder. I use one of these controllers on my snowcat and it just makes it so much easier to control. The ripper is now on two toggle switches.

I did ditch the stock radio and use my Futuba T10. One thing I would like to do is figure out how to mix the pump to turn on when I want to use the plow but I don't quite have it figured out yet.

Check out these videos

https://youtu.be/oxGPnQMmqpI
https://youtu.be/LP3saFpPUgw

[Mavv]

Thanks for those links ill watch them

[Yard Toad]

Mavv, Maybe someone with more experience with mixes will chime in. Please correct me if I’m wrong, setting up your pump to come on on-demand from 0% will cause the pumps ESC to overheat and seems to have a slight delay on the controls. What I have noticed in some videos and examples is to set up your pump to constantly run but at a slower percentage rate, then mix it with one or all of your control channels. I believe this reduces over heating on your pumps ESC. Also this setup seems to be more responsive.

The videos are great examples of what can be achieved by mixing. Would be great if they also shared the mixes and the values. Maybe Frank will chime in on how he accomplish this.

[TheBennyB]

I'm in that boat as well Yard with regard to the pump motor on/off with functions. Also I'm using the stock "Radio Link AT9" TX with 2 mixes and no problem Either way you should be able to do 2 mix's easily, not sure why you can only have one mix? Did you get yours new or used? Again this is with the stock 2 ESC's for the drive motors. With a Sabertooth your combing 2 ESC's into one which makes it somewhat easier.

[Yard Toad]

Benny, I got my dozer new and it came with a flysky fa-i6s. This radio only has one mix available and it also does not have any variable knobs. I was a bit disappointed when it didn’t come with the RadioLink At9. At least you have the ability to mix channels for differential steering and the ability to raise and lower your pump speed easily by the turn of a knob. I have been debating with the idea of the Sabertooth but I still wouldn’t be able to lower the pump speed with ease. If I upgrade to a Radiolink at9 I will be able to have differential steering and variable speed control of pump speed. Also if the At9 had 4 more mixes available you could set up all the controls to set up on-demand from a min. % to a desired max% rate.

Benny how many mixes does your At9 have?

[liftmys10]

Benny, I got my dozer new and it came with a flysky fa-i6s. This radio only has one mix available and it also does not have any variable knobs.

I was also disappointed that it did not come with variable knobs to adjust pump speed and only ONE mix available. That's a slap in the face. I did however dial in my i6s for 870k wheel loader to a point where I feel confident in the movements. I posted a YouTube video in action. With the default settings it was impossible for me to control smoothly.
I believe all the construction equipments now come with i6s.

[TheBennyB]

Benny, I got my dozer new and it came with a flysky fa-i6s. This radio only has one mix available and it also does not have any variable knobs. I was a bit disappointed when it didn’t come with the RadioLink At9. At least you have the ability to mix channels for differential steering and the ability to raise and lower your pump speed easily by the turn of a knob. I have been debating with the idea of the Sabertooth but I still wouldn’t be able to lower the pump speed with ease. If I upgrade to a Radiolink at9 I will be able to have differential steering and variable speed control of pump speed. Also if the At9 had 4 more mixes available you could set up all the controls to set up on-demand from a min. % to a desired max% rate.

Benny how many mixes does your At9 have?

Next time I'm out in the shop I'll look, but think 4-6.

[thebigo]

Not sure if you can mix with the stock set up, ESC, I did figure out how to do it with my spectrum DX-18 on the Carson Loader Hydraulics, did it with both the Loader functions and the ripper works great, I have the premacon electronics, can’t remember what the name is though. If anyone has the spectrum radio, I would be more than happy to tak some pictures of the screens for you. Tried doing it on the RC4wd xl4200 excavator and could only get on or off settings for hydro, but I need to try it on the Dozer yet, will let you Know.

[Mavv]

Mavv, Maybe someone with more experience with mixes will chime in. Please correct me if I’m wrong, setting up your pump to come on on-demand from 0% will cause the pumps ESC to overheat and seems to have a slight delay on the controls. What I have noticed in some videos and examples is to set up your pump to constantly run but at a slower percentage rate, then mix it with one or all of your control channels. I believe this reduces over heating on your pumps ESC. Also this setup seems to be more responsive.

The videos are great examples of what can be achieved by mixing. Would be great if they also shared the mixes and the values. Maybe Frank will chime in on how he accomplish this.

Ya ive seen that on youtube and its what I am trying to figure out to do. For now its pump on or off when I use the machine.

[Lil Giants]

Mixing is quite simple on any radio, the menu procedure is the same for all of them. The 1st ch entry is Master (valve), 2nd ch entry is Slave (pump), then + - values need to be in the right order so your pump always turns the correct direction. I set pump EPA initially to run at 30% & depending on what I'm doing, turn the mix or leave it off.

[Yard Toad]

Thanks for the info, I think we are getting this figured out. I just tried this with my one and only mix on my Flysky i6s. I will share the values that I have used for others to try and see if they also have some success. 1st set EPA for my pump at 40% that is the max speed i want my pump to run, set master channel with (valve of choice), slave channel always(pump). neg. value -40% pos. value 40% and -50% offset.

With these values when the mix is off and my pump is on it runs at 40% (my max speed). When I turn on the mix it reduces the pump speed by 50%(offset) and the pump now runs at 20%. When I open the valve my pump speed is at 20% and as i continue to open the valve my pump speed continues to increase until i have reached full open and now my pump is at its max speed of 40%. I believe you would just repeat the process for every valve, as long as your radio has enough mixes available.

[Yard Toad]

Benny thanks for the info on the at9. Looks like it will work for the differential steering and support all the mixes to run the pump at low speed.

[liftmys10]

Yard toad, I made a video on how I setup my 870k's radio. I know it's not a dozer but the radio is the same. https://youtu.be/3iA42F_aj68

[TheBennyB]

Benny thanks for the info on the at9. Looks like it will work for the differential steering and support all the mixes to run the pump at low speed.

Just checked mine and it has the option of 8 mixes. Not sure what the difference is but 1-4 are under "normal" and 5-8 are under "curve." With the stock electronics here's my screens for mixes to have tracks on one stick and blade on the other. I then have the ripper on the left and right shoulder toggles. I had to switch around ESC's on the RX but all worked, you may not have to.
http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee402/thebennyb10/IMG_2698_zpsih7gex3f.jpg (http://s1226.photobucket.com/user/thebennyb10/media/IMG_2698_zpsih7gex3f.jpg.html)
http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee402/thebennyb10/IMG_2699_zpssabruhjw.jpg (http://s1226.photobucket.com/user/thebennyb10/media/IMG_2699_zpssabruhjw.jpg.html)
http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee402/thebennyb10/IMG_2700_zpshw6e4omn.jpg (http://s1226.photobucket.com/user/thebennyb10/media/IMG_2700_zpshw6e4omn.jpg.html)

[Yard Toad]

Liftmys10, great video and awesome valve tuning. I currently don’t any 3 position switches available, one is being used for sound the other controls a servonaut MM4 switch, the remaining switches control the pump (on/off) and strobe light (on/off).

Have been playing around with the settings and found a way to get hi/low speed for my pump by way of using the “fly mode”. Here’s how it works pump is assigned to switch A (on/off), turn pump to on (high speed) press “fly mode” pump still on high. Now flip switch A back to the up (or off position) and now it’s on low speed.
You can look up flymode for i6s and will describe it a bit better.

[Yard Toad]

Benny, thanks for the valuable info should help others set up differential steering. Great to see you get eight mixes. If I’m not mistaken 4 are linear and 4 are curved. Linear mixes tend to be more responsive around center stick vs curved. Curved more responsive at the end of stick.

[liftmys10]

Liftmys10, great video and awesome valve tuning. I currently don’t any 3 position switches available, one is being used for sound the other controls a servonaut MM4 switch, the remaining switches control the pump (on/off) and strobe light (on/off).

Have been playing around with the settings and found a way to get hi/low speed for my pump by way of using the “fly mode”. Here’s how it works pump is assigned to switch A (on/off), turn pump to on (high speed) press “fly mode” pump still on high. Now flip switch A back to the up (or off position) and now it’s on low speed.
You can look up flymode for i6s and will describe it a bit better.
Thanks I'll check that out.
I'm assuming you lowered the end point for switch A. That will decrease pump speed for good.

[Yard Toad]

Liftmys10, yes i have lowered my end point for my pump, I like to run it at 40% (high).
When I go into fly mode I can toggle between 40% (high) and 20% (low).
Here are the values I used to set up "fly mode", pump channel (5), S1 (SwA), S2 (Null) Value 1 (1600) low, Value 2 (1690) High. I used the servo screen to help me convert the values.

[ariari]

I swapped one of the self centering wheels with pot to control the pump and same side stick for the blade.

Problems so far what I have noticed is that tracks start slipping very easily on any moist sand / mold.

Every time if I have not been using the dozer for weeks I get very bad arcing from one of the motors or both and I need the take them out. Could hydraulic oil cause it because I haven't done nothing to the over fill tube and the there is always some oil under the cab etc.. here is video of this very usual thing for me https://drive.google.com/open?id=1hfU9iJUqE0UpjIfnEQN-0mcSmi_8UUGGaQ

Third problem is that cylinders don't keep pressure or position or how it is said? Ripper is lifted up but it comes down very slow and also blade. I need to raise ripper time to time when running.

And the last one is some times the pump struggles to start spinning even when put in full speed, using hydraulics finally gets it running normally. Like the oil flow is restricted and jamming the pump?